Incorporation of indole significantly improves the transfection efficiency of guanidinium‐containing poly(methacrylamide)s

Abstract A highly efficient transfection agent is reported that is based on terpolymer consisting of N ‐(2‐hydroxypropyl)methacrylamide (HPMA), N ‐(3‐guanidinopropyl) methacrylamide (GPMA), and N ‐(2‐indolethyl)methacrylamide monomers (IEMA) by analogy to the amphipathic cell‐penetrating peptides containing tryptophan and arginine residues. The incorporation of the indole‐bearing monomer leads to successful plasmid DNA condensation even at a nitrogen‐to‐phosphate (N/P) ratio of 1. The hydrodynamic diameter of polyplexes is determined to be below 200 nm for all N/P ratios. The transfection studies demonstrate a 200‐fold increase of the transgene expression in comparison to P(HPMA‐co‐GPMA) with the same guanidinium content. This study reveals the strong potential of the indole group as a side‐chain pendant group that can increase the cellular uptake of polymers and the transfection efficiency of the respective polyplexes

Incorporation of Indole Significantly Improves the Transfection Efficiency of Guanidinium‐Containing Poly(Methacrylamide)s

Abstract A highly efficient transfection agent is reported that is based on terpolymer consisting of N ‐(2‐hydroxypropyl)methacrylamide (HPMA), N ‐(3‐guanidinopropyl) methacrylamide (GPMA), and N ‐(2‐indolethyl)methacrylamide monomers (IEMA) by analogy to the amphipathic cell‐penetrating peptides containing tryptophan and arginine residues. The incorporation of the indole‐bearing monomer leads to successful plasmid DNA condensation even at a nitrogen‐to‐phosphate (N/P) ratio of 1. The hydrodynamic diameter of polyplexes is determined to be below 200 nm for all N/P ratios. The transfection studies demonstrate a 200‐fold increase of the transgene expression in comparison to P(HPMA‐co‐GPMA) with the same guanidinium content. This study reveals the strong potential of the indole group as a side‐chain pendant group that can increase the cellular uptake of polymers and the transfection efficiency of the respective polyplexes

Incorporation of Indole Significantly Improves the Transfection Efficiency of Guanidinium-Containing Poly(methacrylamide)s

In this study, we report a highly efficient transfection agent based on terpolymer consisting of N-(2-hydroxypropyl)methacrylamide (HPMA), N-(3-guanidinopropyl) methacrylamide (GPMA), and N-(2-indolethyl)methacrylamide (IEMA) monomers by analogy to the amphipathic cell penetrating peptides containing tryptophan and arginine residues. The incorporation of the indole bearing monomer led to successful plasmid DNA condensation even at nitrogen to phosphate (N/P) ratio 1. The hydrodynamic diameter of polyplexes was determined to be below 200 nm for all N/P ratios. The transfection studies demonstrated 200- fold increase of the transgene expression in comparison to P(HPMA-co-GPMA) with the same guanidinium content. This study reveals the strong potential of the indole group as side chain pending group that can increase the cellular uptake of polymers and the transfection efficiency of the respective polyplexes.</div

Glycogen as a Building Block for Advanced Biological Materials

Biological nanoparticles found in living systems possess distinct molecular architectures and diverse functions. Glycogen is a unique biological polysaccharide nanoparticle fabricated by nature through a bottom‐up approach. The biocatalytic synthesis of glycogen has evolved over time to form a nanometer‐sized dendrimer‐like structure (20–150 nm) with a highly branched surface and a dense core. This makes glycogen markedly different from other natural linear or branched polysaccharides and particularly attractive as a platform for biomedical applications. Glycogen is inherently biodegradable, nontoxic, and can be functionalized with diverse surface and internal motifs for enhanced biofunctional properties. Recently, there has been growing interest in glycogen as a natural alternative to synthetic polymers and nanoparticles in a range of applications. Herein, the recent literature on glycogen in the material‐based sciences, including its use as a constituent in biodegradable hydrogels and fibers, drug delivery vectors, tumor targeting and penetrating nanoparticles, immunomodulators, vaccine adjuvants, and contrast agents, is reviewed. The various methods of chemical functionalization and physical assembly of glycogen nanoparticles into multicomponent nanodevices, which advance glycogen toward a functional therapeutic nanoparticle from nature and back again, are discussed in detail